


Recovery.

by NARWHALTALE



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Chess, F/F, F/M, Killing Game Was A Virtual Reality Simulation (Dangan Ronpa), M/M, Panic Attacks, Parental Tojo Kirumi, Post-Game(s), Reconciliation, Recovery, Reliving Deaths, Trauma, more to be added - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:49:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29705013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NARWHALTALE/pseuds/NARWHALTALE
Summary: Chapters that vary in size following my ships of V3 recovering. Some information for this AU:Killers and Victims meeting is against the rules.There is a curfew.Rooms are not soundproof.This takes place at a hospital meant for recovery for its patients.(More will be added as I continue.)I don't have an update schedule lol-If there are continuity errors or anything, my apologies, this is mainly practice for writing characters and to use during Writer's Block (tm).
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Iruma Miu, Chabashira Tenko/Yumeno Himiko, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, Hoshi Ryoma/Tojo Kirumi, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 7
Kudos: 53





	1. Rules (Ryoma/Kirumi)

His hat fell over his eyes as he entered the hospital-provided dorm room. 

_ Simulations, they say. An important show, they say. Doubt it, just an excuse to earn more money and bring their sadistic desires to life via real people.  _

Ryoma’s phone buzzed. Notifications, notifications. People who ‘loved him’. ‘Cared about him’. Yeah, right. It was the people he knew before the game, apparently. They’d stolen away his memories of his family and friends, stolen away his personality (apparently not super different, stoic and brooding), stolen away his home, his opportunities, his - 

_ Ding. _

Against his better judgement, Ryoma pulled his phone out of his bag. Discord notif. He didn’t talk much on here, but whatever. As long as it wasn’t some creepy ‘fan’ of his, he was pretty chill with it. 

_Mother_Figure, 2:38 pm_ _  
__Is this Hoshi Ryoma?_

_Tennis ball of yarn, 2:39 pm_ _  
__depends on whos askin. name?_

_Mother_Figure, 2:39 pm_ _  
__I cannot tell you that information due to rules… however, I can assure you that you know me._

_Tennis ball of yarn, 2:40 pm_ _  
__Tojo?_

_ Mother_Figure, 2:40 pm _

_ I should… probably change my typing style while undercover, shouldn’t I? _

It almost drew a laugh from him. High compliment, Ryoma hadn’t laughed for a long time. A  _ long _ time. 

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 2:41 pm _

_ and the name. if you’re reaching out to classmates at least. think ouma’s nickname stuck.  _

_ Mother_Figure, 2:41 pm  _

_ I have learnt to...handle it properly. I find it rather endearing now, honestly. _

_ It has been a while since I have looked over children. It feels rather nice to have a nickname like ‘mother’ again.  _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 2:42 pm _

_ question.  _

_ Mother_Figure, 2:42 pm _

_ Please ask away.  _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 2:44 pm _

_ why did you contact me? whats your motive? _

_ Mother_Figure, 2:44 pm _

_ That is… a question I would prefer not to answer currently.  _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 2:46 pm _

_ fine. stop contacting me, please and thank you.  _

_ Mother_Figure, 2:46 pm _

_ Hoshi-kun, please,. ,allow me to seesplain _

Ryoma closed Discord. Nope, not today, not ever. 

It wasn’t that he was afraid of her. He wasn’t, honestly. In fact, he had respect for her. She’d done what she thought was right for the good of others. The only problem was that it was him who was chosen for her plan. 

Dying was just a bit traumatizing. 

He knew it wasn’t Tojo’s fault. It was the cruel creators of the game, the show. It was the disgusting people who got bored of them and wanted to toss another in the trash for drama. It was the motive. It was the lies in the chip that they inserted into her head, changing her whole personality, her whole view on life. It was Akamatsu, who started the killing game. It was the Mastermind who stood by and watched. 

And yet he still felt bitter. 

Just when he’d realized that perhaps there was a reason to stick around after all, just when he’d decided maybe death wasn’t that answer, just when he decided that maybe he could be loved - 

The wooden pole had slammed against his skull and he was asleep, asleep, drowning, NOT ASLEEP, DYING - 

She’d taken that from him, and he was bitter. 

Of course, he’d given up his life, but what if he wanted a peaceful way to go? What if he didn’t want to wake up screaming from the ghost-like pain in his head? What if he didn’t want to be deathly afraid of pools of water? What if he didn’t want to -

_ Stop. _

Ryoma inhaled and exhaled through his nose. He didn’t want to start trying to run from the building again. That went… badly last time. You’d think time alone for him would be no sweat, since he didn’t interact with the rest of his ‘classmates’ really at all (unless they visited first), but he still used his phone to talk in the groupchat occasionally, still talked with the people who served his tray to him each night, still made small talk with the nurses who came in each morning to check his vitals, still dodged answers with his therapist. When you took that away, Ryoma had…

Nothing. 

Oh, how pathetic he was. He needed to talk to people who couldn’t care less about him to keep himself from jumping off the top of this building. 

Another Discord message, this one not from Mother_Figure. 

_ Supreme_Sugartooth, 2:58 pm _

_hey >:(_ _  
_ _  
__hey >:(_ _  
_ _  
__Heeyyyyyyyyy >:(_ _  
_ _  
__HEYYYYYYYY >:(((_ _  
_ _  
_**_HEYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!_**

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 2:58 pm _

_ what.  _

_ Supreme_Sugartooth, 2:59 pm _

_ Oh!!! There you areeeee!!!!!!! _

_ What’d you do to my mom >:(((((( _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 2:59 pm _

_ What? _

_ Supreme_Sugartooth, 3:00 pm _

_ You made her sad!!! She’s sitting there staring at her phone and sweeping! So who are you and what did you do >:((( _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 3:03 pm _

_ i didnt do anything, i told her to stop contacting me after she refused to answer what her motive for contacting me was.  _

_ Supreme_Sugartooth, 3:04 pm _

_ Well ask again and again and again and again and againnnnnnnnn! She always gives up eventually! _

_ You made her sad :p _

_ So unblock her and apologize!!!!!!!!!!! _

_ Grrrrr!  _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 3:07 pm _

_ cool your jets kid, ill do it :l _

_ Supreme_Sugartooth, 3:07 pm _

_ Good! I have to go because dumb saihara-chan is knocking on my door again and i gotta go torture him with my company >:) _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 3:08 pm _

_ don’t make out with him too hard, he needs to breathe _

_ Supreme_Sugartooth, 3:08 pm _

_ Blocked and reported >:’( _

Ryoma sighed and unblocked Kirumi, even though it was reckless, against the rules, and probably would lead to nothing good. 

_...what? _

Kirumi stared at her phone in slight awe. 

_ Tennis ball of yarn sent a friend request.  _

_ Accept? Decline.  _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 3:28 pm _

_ hey.  _

_ it was pretty childish of me to block you so quickly. sorry.  _

_ Mother_Figure, 3:28 pm _

_ That’s alright. I should not have pressured you so quickly. Or done the things I have done to you. I am so sorry.  _

_ I am aware that my simple words do not make up for the sins I have committed against you. It will take time for myself to gain your trust. I am ready for this challenge.  _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 3:30 pm _

_ i appreciate that.  _

_ Mother_Figure, 3:30 pm _

_ I know that I do not deserve your forgiveness… however, I’d like to make it up to you. I’ve baked a batch of cookies and made some tea… I have left it at your door.  _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 3:34 pm _

_ Woah.. these are really good. whered you learn how to cook them? _

_ Mother_Figure, 3:34 pm _

_ I picked that up along my travels in maid duty. My mother taught me a family recipe when I was young. At least, that’s what my game backstory is. I don’t know what my true way of learning was in the outside world… _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 3:36 pm _

_ is delivering these to my dorm even allowed? with the whole no killer and victim contact? _

_ Mother_Figure, 3:36 pm _

_ No, not at all. I said that I was delivering them to Ouma-kun. I can only hope I do not get myself into trouble when my alibi is later revoked. Ouma-kun and Saihara-kun are visibly close.  _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 3:37 pm _

_ why would you risk that for me? _

_ Mother_Figure, 3:37 pm _

_ I couldn’t just apologize without at least an attempt at a fraction of something to make it up to you… It’s barely anything and I know I need to do more to even get you to not loathe me, however, I do hope that you’ll enjoy the cookies. _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 3:40 pm _

_ thank you. really. i appreciate it a lot. _

_ Mother_Figure, 3:40 pm _

_ Please feel free to ask for more at any time! _

“Surprise room check, Tojo-san!”

_ Oh no…  _ She thought. 

Kirumi bit her bottom lip and saw the doorknob twisting. 

_ Think, think! _

“E-excuse me, I’m currently in a state of undress. “I need to be presentable, just a moment.” 

Proud of herself for coming up with something that quickly, she returned to Ryoma and deleted Discord off of her phone. She noted what her background was and did a factory reset of her phone. 

The maid got back to her laptop and quickly typed back to Ryoma. She’d been told that her typing style was weird on the internet, and that she typed too quickly

_ My apologies, they’re doing a routine check on my room, so I must go for a while, as I’ll have to close Discord on my laptop and delete my search history. I will let you know when I return. Please have a good night, Hoshi-kun.  _

_ Tennis ball of yarn, 3:40 pm _

_ You too, Tojo-san. _

A small smile flitted across her black lips - she’d decided she would go full goth and dress that way; she thought she looked nice - and she closed her laptop. 

“Come in!” She called, smoothing her hair down. 

Kirumi was struggling to figure out what privacy meant. Not for other people, of course! But for herself. It had been so long since she could even stop someone from coming into her room. She still struggled to wrap her head around it. But it was helpful for when she was hiding things. 

It was about to get more helpful. 

In her heart, Kirumi knew that her own guilt for Hoshi’s death wasn’t the only reason she reached out to him. There was some other feeling, deep in her chest and stomach, that told her something was off in the way she’d never felt before. She didn’t know what it was, but something about Hoshi…

It excited her. 

She found that she liked the feeling.


	2. Why? (Saihara/Ouma)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why does Saihara keep coming back? 
> 
> Quick warning, Kokichi has a panic attack in this chapter, if that's too much for you, please click off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no clue how to play chess, so thanks for helping me, Google.

Kokichi smirked at Saihara. 

“Awwe, little Sai-chan is back again! Come to try and convince me I’m not the villain I think I am? Woah! That’s never happened before! But that’s a lie! Or is it? Hm? Hm??” 

“C-Calm down, I just got in here, I can barely even understand you!” Saihara stammered. 

_ Why are you here? What’s your motive? What do you get out of this? _

The words wouldn’t leave Kokichi’s tongue. It just didn’t make sense. Why? Why did he care? Everyone but Mom, Iruma-chan, Kiibo and Rantaro ignored him, pretended he wasn’t there, pretended he didn’t exist. 

So why was Saihara here? 

By all logic, none of it made sense, not at all, not at  _ all. _

Why?

“Aw man, Saihara-chan can’t understandmewhenItalklikethis??? That’s so lame!” Kokichi crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue. 

All he got was an unimpressed look. 

“Come onnnn! Let’s go do something fun! We could go drown Kiiboy in the pool! Or we could dump cow manure on filthy Iruma-chan, or we could - “

“How about chess?” 

_ Hm… not boring. Not boring at all.  _

“Hm… okay! But if you lose, you must surrender all of your Sherlock Holmes books to tonight’s bonfire!” 

“But we don’t do bon - “ 

“Deal?”

Saihara went silent for a moment.

“If I win, you have to go a full day without lying.” 

_ Playing dirty, I see. _

“Wooowww, Sai-chan! You wanna get rid of my greatest talent for a whole  _ day? _ I never expected something so mean from you!”

Kokichi inhaled. Using an old technique he learned in one of his forgotten memories (memories of which had been taken), he rushed tears to his eyes, and -

“My Sherlock Holmes books are yours if you win. Deal?” 

Kokichi stopped for a moment. The liar considered it; if he won, he could tease Saihara for at least a week about the things he read (if he returned, that was). Besides, Saihara was never boring. 

“Deal.” 

Saihara held out his hand. Kokichi stared at it for a beat. 

Hesitantly, he took Saihara’s hand and shook. 

Saihara’s hand was cold, much too cold, and clammy. 

_ Do I scare him that badly? Am I that bad? _

Then came the flashbacks. 

**_“Who cares about that idiot?! I would never cry for Gonta!”_ **

**_“I, Kokichi Ouma, am the Mastermind of this Killing Game!”_ **

**_“I’ll win no matter what!”_ **

**_“You’re pathetic.”_ **

**_“Embodiment of malice.”_ **

**_“Do you wanna die?”_ **

**_“You’re alone, Kokichi, and you always will be.”_ **

**_“Liar.”_ **

**_“Are you sure you want to do this?”_ **

**_“WaitwaITWAITSTOPSTOPTHEPRESSSTOPITI’MNOTREADYPLEASE - “_ **

**_C r u n c h._ **

“..ma?”

**_“I don’t want to be around a killer. Move aside, you degenerate!”_ **

**_“Nyeh, you’re a horrible person, Ouma. Get out of my sight.”_ **

**_“Why would you do that to Gonta, Ouma-kun?”_ **

**Kokichi couldn’t breathe, couldn’t breathe, the presswasrightthereitwas -**

**_I don’t want to die yet put me down Harukawa-_ **

**_“Look at yourself, you’re pathetic!”_ **

“Ou...n?!!”

**_“You’re alone, Kokichi, and you always will be.”_ **

**_“GIVE ME AN ANSWER OR I’LL SHOOT!”_ **

**_“You’realoneKokichi,andyoualwayswillbe - “_ **

_ “OUMA-KUN!” _

Kokichi snapped out of it. There were hands on his shoulders, cold, clammy hands, and there were eyes on his face, deep, greyish eyes, and there were shallow almost-breaths barely leaving his lips and his lungs were collapsing  **_and the poison was kicking in and the press was -_ **

“Ouma-kun, hey, hey…” 

What a soothing voice. 

“Can you tell me five things you can see?” 

Shaking, shaking, it was cold and it was dark -

“U-...Um… e...eyes… and…” Kokichi tried looking around. “Carpet… bed…” It was still so cold and there was an arrow in his back - “Door… window…”

Something was touching his scalp. Not mean. No… it wasn’t mean, it was calm, and kind. 

“Thank you, you’re doing great. Four things you can hear?”

“V...voice…” It was a hand that was touching his head. Whose… hand…? “H-Heater. Wind… A-And um…” Kokichi looked around again and strained his ears. Someone was playing piano down the hall… “P...Piano…” 

“G-Good, you’re doing so good, you can do this. Three things you can smell?”

It wasn’t so dark anymore…

“U-um...Pencil lead… c...coffee… vanilla?”

Black sleeves. White cuff… stripes. 

“Thank you, you’re doing great.”  
The poison was starting to make its way out. 

“Two things you can touch?” 

“...s...sleeve. And… um… other sleeve…?”

“That works…” 

Kokichi could sort of breathe again. 

“One thing you can taste?” 

“U...Um… water?”

“Good… good… can you count to ten?”

“One… two… three, four, five… six seven eight… nine, ten?” 

“Thank you.” 

Kokichi slowly looked up. 

Oh… Saihara had helped him.

“W...Would a hug be alright?”

_ What’s your motive? _

“Y...Yeah…”

Saihara didn’t hesitate at all, he quickly wrapped his arms around Kokichi’s frail little body and hugged him tightly. 

It was… a nice kind of tightness. Nothing like the - 

“Hey. I… I know it’s hard. But we can… put the Killing Game behind us, right? I… I know that what I said wasn’t fair to you. So I want to apologize. You aren’t alone. You’ll never be alone again, and… And if you feel that way, you can… come to my dorm, alright?”

“...yeah…” Kokichi felt so small. Powerless. 

It had been so long since he’d felt like this. Why was he - 

“D...Do you still want to play chess?”

_ Anything to not be alone. _

“Yeah… I’m gonna beat Saihara-chan, nishish - “

“Call me Shuichi.” 

_ What? _

“I… I think we’re close enough for you to… call me by my given name.” 

_ That’s… kinda sad. To think Saihara believes he’s close with such a scummy murderer. Sad, oh, how tragic. Little Saihara-Chan thinks relatively highly of a murderer! Someone who teased him about his best friend dying, someone who laughed at the deaths, someone who -  _

“S...Say it?” How cute, Saihara tried to demand he do something, and yet it came out like a polite request. Momo-chan’s training never did anything after all!

“Hm… no! I think I’ll refer to you as peasant from here on out, ‘kay?”

“A...Ah, no, not ‘kay.” 

“Mannn… how about subordinate?”

“No.”

“Pleb?” 

“Nope.” 

“Fineeee.”

“D-Does… does Shusai work? I-I get it if you’d prefer not to call me by my first name, b-but ah - “

“No. I’ll stick with Shuichi.” 

Shuichi tilted his head slightly, confused. It was probably the whiplash from Kokichi’s rapid changing mood. 

First names were one thing, but nicknames? He’d never been verbally allowed to call someone a nickname, not to anyone but DICE.

And DICE wasn’t real. So they didn’t count.

“That’s - that works.” Shuichi gave him a small, flustered smile. “Now, shall we play chess?” Shuichi bowed lowly and extended his hand, as if asking Kokichi for a waltz. 

“But of course, my dear detective.” Kokichi couldn’t help the giggle that came from his lips. Childish, he knew, but he’d always wanted to meet a royal. 

Well. He had. Sort of. But that was in the last moments before her death. So she didn’t count. 

Kokichi took Shuichi’s hand. It was cold, very cold, in fact. Kokichi wondered if Shuichi had blood flow problems. 

“To the rec room we go!” 

With that exclamation, Kokichi ran. He dragged Shuichi - who was now quite frazzled - behind him. It felt good to run again. 

He’d missed a lot of their classes due to his trauma of the whole hydraulic press business, meaning he also missed P.E. Besides, he’d figured no one wanted to see him anyway. What was the point of going to his classes if he already knew most of the material? He never liked school anyway, it felt so pointless. 

Running reminded him of his (false) memories of mini gas station raids with his members. It reminded him of early morning vandalism on the local subway station - dumb doodles of clown masks and silly philisophical quotes. 

“O-Ouma-kun, I think we just passed the - “ 

Kokichi skidded on his heels and took a sharp turn around, quick to fix his mistake. 

If only all of his mistakes could be fixed this easily.

When he finally stopped, he held the door open for Shuichi, who was flattening down his hair and evidently trying to breathe. Right, not all of the people here were marathon runners. 

“Th-thank you.” Shuichi panted, stumbling into the room. He leaned against the wall. 

Kokichi skipped into the rec room. Chabashira-chan and Yumeno-chan were watching some children’s show by the tv and they paid the two no notice. 

After the first eight times that people had spotted Kokichi and Shuichi hanging out together, they seemed to lose interest. It wasn’t scandalous or even a rare sight to see the two doing something together, be it baking chocolates with Mom, making paper cranes in the cafeteria, or coloring things in their stupid coloring books. They were practically glued together now. If you saw Shuichi, it was likely that Kokichi was right behind him, and vice versa. 

Kokichi almost felt bad. He knew he was pretty much ruining Shuichi’s reputation. Then again, it was always Shuichi who sought him out. 

That brought him back to his original question. 

_ Why? _

None of it made sense. 

Kokichi sat down at the chess table and folded his hands in front of him. White was always his color of choice while he played. 

Shuichi took a seat at his own side, already inspecting the board. “Your move.” He said smoothly. 

Impressively, Shuichi put on a blank face. Kokichi absently wondered how long he’d been playing before focusing on his arsenal. 

Kokichi inspected Shuichi for a moment. Shuichi was looking along his pieces and taking extra attention looking at his furthest to the left pawn. 

_ Interesting. _

Kokichi moved forward his middle pawn. 

Shuichi’s eyes flicked up. He shifted his hand and moved his middle pawn also.

_ Huh… _

Kokichi thought for a moment and moved another pawn one spot forwards. Now there were two pawns facing Shuichi’s one.

Shuichi moved a knight across the board.

“Checkmate.” 

* * *

  
  


A couple hours and eighteen games later, they were forced away to the split cafeteria. Victims sat together on one side, killers on another, and survivors got to move anywhere. 

Shuichi chose to sit at the ‘blackened’ table today. He’d been sitting by Ouma-kun all week, and he still needed to speak with Kaito sometimes. 

“Shuichi! Sup! Finally come to the sane side, I see!”

Shuichi side-eyed Korekiyo, who quietly ate some spaghetti. 

“Mostly sane.” Kaito laughed nervously. 

Shuichi sat by Maki and Kaito with his tray - spaghetti with four meatballs and little sauce. Shuichi was more of a buttered noodles person than a sauce one. He took a slight sip of his water. 

“Welcome back, Shuichi.” Maki said quietly. Kaito said she was making leaps and bounds in her communication, but it was obviously still difficult for her to express anything but anger or indifference. 

“H-Hi.” Shuichi stammered. 

He found it easier to talk to Ouma-kun than his two best friends now. How funny. Ouma-kun felt more approachable than the people who’d protected him the entire Killing Game. 

Then again, Ouma-kun had no standards in who he talked to. Maki and Kaito only spoke to specific people. The popular people, if you would. Kaede, Kirumi, Rantaro (not at meals), Gonta, and Kiibo. The rest were considered loners. 

Kaede gave Shuichi a bright smile. “Shuichi! It’s nice to see you back!” She took a quick sip of her sugary pink lemonade. “You never come around here anymore!” 

“A-Ah… sorry.” He mumbled. 

Honestly, he preferred the victim table. It felt less tense. Everyone talked to everyone over there, actually, whereas here the only conversation happened between about three people. 

“You have to stop apologizing. You didn’t do anything wrong!” Kaede scolded. She sometimes felt like more of a mom than Tojo-san. 

Speaking of Tojo-san, she was staring quietly at the victim's table. She almost looked sad. Shuichi couldn’t really understand why, she never really seemed close with anyone there but Ouma-kun - 

_ Oh. _

He’d heard the rumors about her and Hoshi-kun, sure. In fact, he was pretty sure Ouma-kun had been used as an alibi for her to deliver cookies to Hoshi-kun’s dorm. But he’d never really believed that there had been anything going on between them. 

Perhaps he had been wrong, based on the small, longing look she directed at the cracked door that led to their room. 

In fact, at the victim table, on one of the slightly surprising times Hoshi-kun had spoke, he’d said something about how kind Tojo-san was. 

_ Oh… perhaps that’s a relationship once we’re released from the hospital.  _

Shuichi fiddled with his blue-plaid shirt cuff. He hated feeling this anxious around people he cared about, but he really couldn’t say he didn’t find Kaito’s loud voice intimidating, or Maki’s angry stares scary, or Kaede’s optimism anxiety-inducing. 

_ People are difficult. _

Shuichi resorted to his usual measures to not speak much. He took small sips of his water at a time and picked at his food until the meal ended, and he dumped the extras into the garbage can. Usually he got a good three quarters in before the end of lunch. 

That checked out anyway. His stomach was usually churning by the end, after all, so his appetite was less than stellar. 

_ Participate in small talk, but only when directed at you. Take small sips as to not seem suspicious, don’t drink too often. _

Rules to keep himself from being a fool.

Shuichi set down his cup and lifted a fork to pick off a bit of his meatball. 

“So, what’s going on with Ouma-kun? Do you like him or something? Are you guys  _ dating? _ ” 

The joys of his friends having the minds of highschoolers. Kaede was essentially the popular nice girl. 

“W-wh - no! O-Of course I don’t like him like that! He’s just a close friend of mine!” Shuichi sputtered like a dying freight train. 

Kaede leaned close into his ear, her lips barely touching. “I heard he’s calling you by your first name.” She whispered. 

Shuichi went bright red. Busted…

If he were to be honest with himself, he did have romantic feelings for Ouma-kun. Rather strong ones, in fact. 

Ouma-kun was interesting, intriguing, irresistible, and other things that didn’t start with the letter i. Ouma-kun was funny, and fun to be around, and energetic, and he had a wonderful smile. Ouma-kun was silly, and unserious, and relaxed. Ouma-kun was everything Shuichi ever wanted in a relationship. 

That didn’t mean he broadcasted those thoughts, however. 

Shuichi cleared his throat. “I let all of my close friends call me by my first name. You call me Shuichi and you have a crush on Iruma-san.” He quickly changed the subject. 

“Shuichi! That’s untrue!” Kaede shouted loudly, probably loud enough to alert the victim room (the walls weren’t soundproof). Her cheeks flushed, and she brought it down a notch. “I don’t have a crush on Miu!” 

“First name?” He teased. 

“H-Hey! I - “

Kaede began her rant about friendship and how close she was to the people she cared about and how soft Miu’s hands were despite all the work she did with them. 

Shuichi liked Kaede, liked her a lot. She was kind, and motivated. She was just… a bit much for him sometimes. 

He sipped his water again as she talked and found his eyes moving to the victim room. He could hear loud snickering (Ouma-kun’s voice) and defensive shouting from Himiko. Ouma-kun probably made a comment on how close the two had gotten or something. 

Shuichi wondered if it was too late to return to the victims table. 

“Saihara-kun.” Shuichi looked up in slight awe. Tojo-san rarely spoke during meals. “I… would like to see you in your room when we are finished eating.”

“O-Oh, yeah, that’s fine with me.” 

Tojo-san gave him a polite nod and went back to eating. 

Kaede finished her rant with a huff and chugged the rest of her lemonade. 

“So, Shuichi! You really should start sitting here more!” Kaito exclaimed. “Not to be mean or anything, but the victims are losers, other than Rantaro.” He snorted.

Shuichi froze. The table went completely silent. 

To Shuichi’s surprise, Tojo-san stood up and cleared her throat. “There are more losers here than in that room.” 

The maid hurried away. 

_ She definitely has a crush on Hoshi-kun.  _

“I-I didn’t mean to be mean!” Kaito shouted, seemingly flustered. “I was just saying some of the people in there are jerks!” 

“A-Ah, Kaito, that’s - “

“You can’t talk, Shuichi, you’re always around Ouma now. What happened to us as bros?” 

Kaito seemed genuinely confused. He probably didn’t know what was wrong with his statements. 

“K-Kaito, they didn’t choose to be victims. E-Er, other than O-Ouma-kun, b-but ah - Chabashira-san was a victim because she was protecting H-Himiko. D-Does - does that make her a loser?” 

Shuichi braced for impact against his face. It didn’t come. 

“Woah! You really got confident! I’m so proud of you, dude!” 

“A-Ah, well - “ 

“Don’t spoil this, bro! You’re so cool for doing that! I didn’t know you’d stand up for them! Maybe Ouma is having a good effect on you!”

Shuichi turned to a deeper shade of red. “Thanks.” He sipped his water. 

“Just telling the truth, bro!”

* * *

  
  
  


“Y-You asked to see me, Tojo-san?”

Tojo-san entered Shuichi’s room holding a tray. “Hello, Saihara-kun.” She gave him a small bow. “There are cookies on this tray for you and Ouma-kun later. Please enjoy them.” 

She set down the tray and rushed out, but not before bending over before his door and gently grabbing another tray.

_ Ah, she’s strengthening her alibi. _

Shuichi wasn’t a snitch, not to people he cared about, at least. He knew when to tell and when to hold off. There wasn’t any danger involved for Tojo-san or Hoshi-kun, so there was no reason to tell the authorities of the hospital. 

Shuichi laid down on his bed to sleep until his obligatory group therapy meeting with the other survivors. 

His mind drifted back to Ouma-kun. 

_ I doubt he shares much in his sessions. I know him. I think. He probably either stays silent or lies about what they want to hear. He’s not exactly the touchy-feely type. That probably doesn’t help… though I can’t exactly say that. I don’t contribute very much in Maki, Himiko and I’s sessions. I couldn’t. They’d probably be mad at me… I could never tell them about the anxiety I get at the blackened table. Er, Himiko, I could probably tell. I think she’s a bit anxious around Shinguji after the ritual. Maki, though, I could never tell. She’d accuse Ouma-kun of brainwashing me.  _

_ I hope they never end up meeting again. She’d… she’d kill him, I know she would. Or at least greatly injure him. What if she landed him in a real hospital? I’d not see him for a long time, possibly ever again… I should talk to her about that. Is she not allowed around him? She technically killed him, since if she hadn’t shot him with poison-tipped arrows, he wouldn’t have had to crush himself...  _

Shuichi sniffled and realized he was crying. It hurt to think of Ouma-kun under the press. Hurt to think of the pain he was in. Hard to think of how he’d probably hated Shuichi. 

_ Knock knock. _

Shuichi wiped his eyes and got up. He answered the door. 

His day got brighter as Kokichi burst in and wrapped his arms around him.

That was the way things went around here, after all.


	3. Favorite Idiot (Harukawa/Momota)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to post this one, whoops. So uh, double upload today.

“Makiroll!”

That idiot. Always seeking Maki out. 

He practically hopped behind her. “Yo! Hey! Makiroll! Maki! Maki!!”

“I can hear you. I’m not deaf.” She responded curtly. 

Kaito laughed loudly. “Come on! I wanna walk you to group therapy today!” Without a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed her hand.

“Your room is across the building from mine.” Maki spat. 

That just got another laugh. “So? I could run!” 

Maki started walking. “You’re an idiot.” 

A smile tugged at her lips anyway. 

“But I’m your idiot.” Kaito grinned proudly. He nudged her shoulder. “I’m so proud of you, Makiroll, you’re making so much - “

“Can we not talk about this please?” 

Maki hated talking about her progress. It reminded her of her time in the orphanage, where they’d talk about how good of a killer she was becoming. 

Maki wasn’t a killer anymore. 

If you were to get technical, she only killed one person. Who deserved it. But she never wanted to become known like that again. She’d never hurt anyone again, physically, at least. Not unless they  _ really _ deserved it, like that Ouma brat. 

Deep breaths. 

Perhaps Kaito was right, she was getting better at controlling her anger, but that didn’t mean she wanted to prove someone as stupid as him as correct. 

“Oh, sure.” 

Kaito should’ve given up on her by now. Should’ve ran off while he still could. And yet he gave her a supportive smile and a squeeze of the hand. 

He was too happy for his own good. One of these days, it’d get him killed. 

_ No one I love will ever die again. _ She reminded herself. That’s what the therapists said, that’s what the authorities said.  _ Everything is safe. _

She wasn’t quite sure after waiting outside Kaito’s room until he could walk again. 

It was all psychological, she knew. All the pain they’d felt was simply in their minds. That didn’t stop her from hearing screaming all down the hallway at certain hours in the night. 

She even heard Ouma’s hoarse sobs sometimes, just an hour or two after night. 

Maki didn’t feel bad. He was a brat. He killed himself. He killed Kaito. 

Right?

Sometimes, she wondered if it was her own fault that Kaito had been ‘executed’. If she hadn’t shot that arrow at the brat, he wouldn’t have set his plan into motion.

Sometimes, she wondered if it was Shuichi’s fault that Kaito had been executed. If he’d never revealed the truth, Kaito would’ve lived.

Mostly, she blamed the creators of the simulation.

It was sick, what they’d done to them. Begrudgingly, she’d admit, that she hated them more than she hated Ouma, because he wasn’t the one who trapped them. 

Maki hated Ouma a lot.

Kaito squeezed her hand again. “This is your stop.” He sighed. “I’ll see you afterwards! I can meet you here!”

“You don’t have to d - “

But her stupid, dumb, lovable idiot had already ran off. 

Maki opened the door to the room and took her seat. The room was empty, she always preferred to show up early. 

The door burst open and Maki heard a squeak on the other side. “Come onnn! Goooo! I can’t sit here forever!”

Ouma.

Shuichi quietly stepped into the therapy room and revealed Ouma sitting behind him. “Th-thanks for walking me here, O-Ouma-kun.” Shuichi stammered. 

“No problemo, nishishishishi! I’ll be waiting to collect your soul in the rec room when you’re done!” 

With that, he ran off. 

Shuichi stared at the empty doorframe for just a moment before walking to his seat in the middle. “Hey Maki.” 

Shuichi looked tired. He was probably kept awake with nightmares, just like everyone else. Maki never heard him scream much, but she did here quiet sobs at a certain time of night. Then, footsteps. 

She’d found a couple nights ago that once Shuichi was awoken with nightmares, he’d pace the hall and watch over the doors in the hall. As if he was protecting them. 

Always, he was staggering from his exhaustion. Always, he stood just in front of Ouma’s dorm when he needed to rest a moment. Always, he’d walk into the dorm if he heard Ouma’s screams. 

Maki was aware of Shuichi’s feelings for Kokichi. She wasn’t stupid. It was obvious. She could even see it now in the warm glow on his cheeks and the dreamy look in his eyes. That didn’t mean she liked them.

She couldn’t really judge him, though. She had fallen for an idiot too.

“Hey. If you ever need advice for your… idiot, you can ask me.” She hissed. 

Shuichi looked up a moment. “O-Oh… thank you.” 

Maki shrugged. She was getting better with social things, she knew. 

But she didn’t like thinking about progress. 

“U-Um… the same goes for you. I-I’m not great at advice, b-but ah - “

“I get it.” She cut him off. Pleasantries weren’t ever her strong suit. 

Shuichi nodded in understanding and went silent, probably thinking about his idiot again. The door burst open again. 

“BYE HIMIKO!!! HAVE FUN!!!!” 

Maki winced. Chabashira was always much, much too loud,  _ especially  _ when the conversation was about Himiko. 

“Bye Tenko…! Thanks for walking me…” Himiko walked in, and Chabashira ran away. 

Himiko took her seat on Shuichi’s left side. 

Kirigiri Kyoko walked into the room. That was a surprise, actually, usually their therapist was someone from the fifth season (usually Hinata). 

“I’ve been called to talk to the survivors… Since I can relate to you.” 

Shuichi’s interest seemed to get to him. “Y-You were the first Ultimate Detective, correct? You took down your first killing game.” He said cautiously. 

“Yes, that’s… me.” 

Shuichi seemed embarrassed and looked back to his feet. 

“What have you been feeling after the game?” She asked. Her voice was low, calm. As if she wasn’t talking about a game where ‘teenagers’ killed each other. 

Himiko spoke up first. She had less shame now. Probably due to her time around Tenko. “I’ve been feeling kinda ashamed for how I treated my friends.” She played with her fingers. 

Shuichi cleared his throat. “I-I’ve been um. Feeling bad for how I treated the misunderstood people…” He was obviously alluding to Ouma, anyone with a brain could tell. Himiko took it the wrong way.

“What, like Shinguji? He deserved to be misunderstood. He hurt - “ 

“W-We were all in a killing game where we didn’t think we’d - “ 

“They still ki - “ 

“They didn’t mean to - “ 

“Shuichi! They still killed people!” Himiko snapped. 

“Th-they were in a bad situation!”

“THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT OKAY!”

“Stop fighting.” Maki spat. “That will get us nowhere.” 

Shuichi slumped down tiredly and Himiko crossed her arms. 

“It’s obvious that you have differing opinions. What about you, Harukawa-san?” Kirigiri turned to Maki. 

_ Don’t make me answer _ , she sent via her blazing red eyes.  _ I don’t want to answer. _

“Harukawa-san.” 

Kirigiri just stared. 

“Fine.” 

“I’d like an actual answer, Harukawa-san.” 

“I’ve been fine.”

Maki hated this. Hated the spotlight, hated this woman, hated this room, hated this place, hated the people here. She wanted to get out of here. Wanted to go do something dumb with her favorite idiot. 

So she did.

Maki stood up from her chair and stormed out, making sure the door slammed loudly behind her. 

* * *

  
  


“Heyyy, Maki - Shuichi?” 

Shuichi exited the therapy room in place of Maki. Her one-on-one session usually ended first, so she always exited around five pm. However, Shuichi was here instead of her. 

“H-Hey, Kaito…” 

Shuichi looked  _ exhausted. _ Dead-exhausted. He had deep eye-bags, his face was pale, and he had an empty look in his eyes. 

“Yo, what happened? Where’s Makiroll?”

“She stormed out.” Shuichi muttered quietly. “Kirigiri-san tried to go after her, but she was already gone.” 

“Oh. Do you know where she is?” Kaito grew quiet. He was worried for her. What if she’d gotten herself in trouble?

“No clue.” Shuichi massaged his temples. 

“Hey, what happened in there? You look awful.” Kaito said in concern. He couldn’t have his sidekicks getting hurt or sick!

“Himiko and I got in an argument, then since Maki was gone, I had to go first and got grilled by Hinata.” He explained wearily. “Said I shouldn’t be arguing, even though Himiko started it.” He rolled his eyes. “I just need some sleep, I’m fine, really.” 

“Ohhh…” Kaito hummed. “I’m going to go see if Maki’s in her dorm.” He decided. “Get some sleep, sidekick!” 

Kaito slapped Shuichi’s back in a friendly manner. Shuichi gave him a weak smile and started walking in the opposite direction of the dorms. 

“Where ya goin?” 

“Ouma-kun wanted to hang out in the rec room.” No other explanation was given and Shuichi turned down the hall.

Kaito started walking to the dorms and knocked on Maki’s. “Hey! Makiroll! I heard you ran out, are you okay!?” 

No response.

“Maki!! Hey! Hey! Hey Makiroll!” He brought his voice louder. “MAKI!!!”

The door swung open. “What!?” 

_ There she is. _

Without any hesitation at all, Kaito caught Maki in a hug. She froze. “I’m so glad you’re okay!!! I heard you ran out and thought you - “ 

“Shut up, dummy, I’m fine.” Makiroll barked, before slowly lifting her arms and patting his back. “I got angry, is all.” She pulled away swiftly and crossed her arms. “You shouldn’t worry about me. You know that.” 

“You can’t keep running away, Maki.” Kaito’s tone softened. “You don’t have to run anymore, you don’t need a mask anymore. We can do this! We’re safe now!”

“I just - didn’t like the way they were bringing attention to me.” Maki admitted after a beat of silence. “You know I hate attention on me.” 

“I know.” Kaito rubbed her back. “I can talk to them!”

“Don’t. I can fight my own battles.” 

“But sometimes you need help.” Kaito chided gently. “I can help you, Makiroll, that’s what I’m here for.” 

“You shouldn’t.” 

“But I will.” 

“You aren’t letting this go, are you?” 

“Absolutely not.” Kaito grinned. 

Maki sighed exasperatedly. “Fine. Do what you will.” 

Kaito celebrated loudly. “AYYYY - “ 

“SHUT - “ Maki went bright red, and Kaito snickered. 

_ Cute. _

“C’mon, Makiroll!” Kaito grabbed her hand. “Let’s go for a run! The gym is open!” He paused and waited for her response, even though she almost always agreed to his plans. He was the luminary of the stars, the greatest astronaut to ever exist! Of course he had great plans!

“Fine.” 

He needed no other answer. Gripping her hand, Kaito broke into a run down the hallway. He heard just the smallest puff of laughter escape Maki’s lips and felt  _ extremely  _ proud of himself. 

“You’re an idiot.” Maki rolled her eyes with an audible smile. 

“I’m your favorite idiot.” 

Maki laughed,  _ laughed.  _ “I suppose you’re right.”

Pride built in Kaito’s chest; his feet made loud thumps each time they hit the linoleum floor.  _ I made Makiroll laugh! _

He slammed his shoulder into the door and shoved it open. “Here we are, in the gym!” He shouted happily.

“... why would you just beat your shoulder into the wall?” Whatever laughter she had was gone. She gave Kaito an unimpressed look. 

“Because it’s fun!” 

She sighed. “You’re an idiot.” 

“I know! But I’m a shiny idiot!”

“What does that even mean?”

“I dunno! But I’m glad you’re here, Makiroll!”

“...me too, Kaito. Me too. Thanks for bringing me here." Maki looked away and fiddled with her braid. 

"Anytime, Maki! You're my bestie!" 

Kaito found himself wishing that she was more than that. Those thoughts could wait, though. It was time for them to hang out! 

If he wanted to, he could even pretend it was a date. Perhaps, someday, Kaito wouldn't have to pretend anymore.


	4. A bit of help (Tojo/Hoshi)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirumi becomes a character from the Sims 4 and someone helps her clean up the mess.

Kirumi sighed softly and opened her laptop. She hated this dumb rule. Maybe it worked for some people, but it wasn’t as if she was going to hurt Hoshi, and she was pretty sure Hoshi wouldn’t hurt her either. 

_ Mother_Figure, 8:30 pm _

_ Hello, Hoshi-kun. How was your group therapy session? _

She awaited a response. Hoshi-kun always seemed rather careful with his words, typing, deleting, typing again. It was just another reason she was curious about him.

_ C a t s, 8:34 pm _

_ heyo. it was chaotic. the conversation got to shinguji and chabashira got really angry and loud. angie wasn’t as affected tho. she just seemed quieter. i don’t think she’s taking this well :p _

_ how did yours go? _

_ Mother_Figure, 8:34 pm _

_ My meeting was certainly… an experience. Akamatsu-san raised her voice at Momota-kun after he suggested that we blackened had it easy. I disagreed, of course, and so did most of the rest of us. I still wake up rather… afraid, sometimes. _

_ I heard that there was an argument during the survivors’ session. _

_ C a t s, 8:37 pm _

_ momota has his heart in the right place, but he has some issues with his optimism. at least akamatsu knows when to be quiet sometimes.  _

_ Mother_Figure, 8:37 pm _

_ I agree with your statement. _

_ C a t s, 8:40 pm _

_ question, why do you type so formally?  _

_ Mother_Figure, 8:40 pm _

_ I find that it suits me, I suppose. Some would call it a ‘typing quirk’.  _

_ C a t s, 8:45 pm _

  1. _fair enough._



_ Mother_Figure, 8:45 pm _

_ May I ask a question? _

_ C a t s, 8:47 pm _

_ sure.  _

_ Mother_Figure, 8:47 pm _

_ What takes you so long to type? _

_ C a t s, 8:49 pm _

_ small fingers :’) _

That was… oddly cute. 

_ Mother_Figure, 8:49 _

_ Oh. _

_ C a t s, 8:54 _

_ you seem so disappointed im - _

_ Mother_Figure, 8:54 _

_ Well, I expected something more ah… interesting.  _

_ C a t s, 8:58  _

_ HA _

Kirumi found herself giggling. It was so anticlimactic. She’d expected something much more poetic, or thoughtful, but it was just tiny fingers that barely hit the keys.

_ Mother_Figure, 8:59 _

_ What time is curfew again? _

_ C a t s, 9:01 _

_ 10, probably to add insult to injury :P _

_ Mother_Figure, 9:01 _

_ Please wait by your door. _

Kirumi quickly closed her laptop and adjusted her nightgown. Once presentable, she opened her door and ran out of her room. 

She turned the corner of the dorms and paused to listen for voices in front of the cafeteria. 

No voices came. 

She continued walking past it and found the door to the kitchen. 

“Miu! Come on, we have to go!”

“Awww, come on, Bakamatsuuu!”

_ Oh no. _

Kirumi swallowed, inhaled through her nose, and entered the kitchen. 

“Hello.” She said calmly. Iruma-san watched her cautiously and Akamatsu-san blinked at her. “I am simply here to get some tea and cookies for… Ouma-kun.” 

“Ouma-kun is with Saihara-kun in the cafeteria.” Akamatsu-san stared at her. “They’re already eating cookies.” 

Kirumi swallowed and continued her comfortable look. “He asks that I drop them off at his dorm each evening to eat periodically during the night. It was a request.” She lied. 

Akamatsu-san moved aside. She seemed slightly unconvinced, but shrugged it off. “That does sound like him.” 

Kirumi nodded curtly and walked to the fridge to collect her ingredients. “You should be getting back to your dorms. It is getting rather late at night.” 

“Sorry, mom. Miu and I were just getting back.” Akamatsu-san laughed nervously. “Right Miu?” 

Iruma-san rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, let’s go, Bakamatsu.” She grabbed Akamatsu-san’s hand and dragged her out of the kitchen.

Kirumi exhaled in relief. She wondered why Ouma-kun and Saihara-kun were out so late as she quickly started cracking eggs. 

She stirred the batter carefully, wondering when the ban against speaking with victim would be lifted. They were told on their first day that the ban would be lifted once everyone had accepted what had happened to them was simply a simulation, and that the killers were not to blame. 

With people like Chabashira-san as victims, Kirumi wondered if it would ever be lifted. Especially with what Hoshi-kun had said earlier. The blackened had been supposedly making strides towards the forgiveness of  _ themselves _ , but Kirumi wasn’t so sure. Not with the way Momota-kun ranted about what a little freak Ouma-kun was at meetings. She knew it was just guilt bubbling up, but it was still painful to see. 

Kirumi didn’t forgive herself yet. 

She knew it was stupid to think this way. She hadn’t really killed someone. In fact, she was baking cookies for that person right now. 

But she still carried out the actions. She’d planned a murder of someone she considered a friend. She’d hit him over the head and drowned him. She’d sent him into a tank of piranhas and watched his corpse be eaten without an ounce of remorse on her face. Perhaps she thought she was doing the right thing in the moment, but that didn’t mean she had the right to take Hoshi-kun’s life. That didn’t mean she had the right to indirectly kill twelve more of her friends on her way out.

Kirumi Tojo was a murderer. It was as simple as that. 

Kirumi didn’t smell the smoke until it was billowing up her nose. 

She panicked.

The cookies, as she would find out, were the least of her problems. 

She quickly opened the oven, but that was her first mistake. The flames shot up from the cookies and touched the towel on the handle. Kirumi quickly moved her gloved hands away and stumbled back.

_ This is… very bad. _

Kirumi gulped and calmly walked to the fire extinguisher, only to find that it wasn’t there. 

_ This just got much, much worse.  _

Kirumi knew of the consequences that would follow. She would likely lose her kitchen privileges, be questioned as to why she was here in the first place. Her excuse wouldn’t work, due to her being told to write her requests in a notebook by her bed. Perhaps she’d be put in solitary confinement for a week and be forced out of the hospital. Maybe they’d go through her computer and Hoshi-kun would get in trouble, and -

“Tojo?”

Kirumi nearly dropped to the ground. 

The deep voice caught her by surprise,  _ lots of surprise. _

“Hoshi-kun!” She exclaimed nervously. “Hello.” She bowed and side-eyed the growing fire. “I am currently in a rather… difficult situation.” 

“That’s obvious. I heard the fire, so I uh…” Hoshi-kun brought a fire extinguisher from behind his back. “You’re taller, so you can - you can take this.” 

Kirumi sighed in overwhelming relief and quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher. She put out the fire and leaned heavily on the wall, her breaths labored. 

Someone grabbed her hand. “Hey, it’ll be alright. Just a mistake is all.” He soothed. “Listen, I can help you clean up and walk you back to your dorm. Curfew’s in about seven minutes, so we’d better hurry this up…” 

Kirumi reflexively went to decline. “Oh, no, I can handle th - “ 

She took a quick look at the mess. 

…

“Some help would certainly be… helpful. Thank you, Hoshi-kun.” 

Hoshi-kun gave her a kind nod and tossed the burnt towel into the trash. Kirumi decided to follow him over and grabbed the tray of ruined cookies. 

Her talent kicked in and she swept across the kitchen like a reverse hurricane, cleaning and fixing and sweeping and scrubbing until it was better than before. 

“Two minutes. We’d better go before they start doing hall checks.” 

Hoshi-kun didn’t sound frantic, per se, but he definitely was not calm. Kirumi decided to listen. “You are right. We should go.” 

Hoshi-kun, always full of surprises, grabbed her hand and started speedwalking. His hand was rough and relatively cold, but she could feel the strength in it from years of a tight grip on rackets. 

Just as the lights shut off, Hoshi-kun got her to her dorm. “It was nice seeing you, Tojo. Thanks for trying to make me cookies.” He chuckled. He had a nice laugh, and Kirumi couldn’t help but smile in return.

“It was nice seeing you too, I appreciate your help in cleaning the kitchen. I should be able to get those cookies to you by tomorrow.” A small giggle escaped her lips. 

“I look forward to it. Have a nice night.” 

And then he was gone. 

  
  
  
  


Ryoma felt different. 

It had been a long time since he’d felt this way. So long, in fact, that he didn’t know what it was at first. 

Ryoma entered his dorm room and locked the door behind him. It was useless to do so, he knew, they’d come in for their nightly check in about a half hour with their skeleton keys and flashlights. Tell him to turn off the phone and get some sleep. Should he refuse, they’d force feed him a sleeping pill that would keep him trapped in his nightmares. Without the ability to wake up from fear, it just kept going until it finally wore off in the afternoon. 

Oh, nightmares. 

Inescapable by all of the lost souls trapped in this building. That’s all they really were, right? Dead people with corporeal forms. Ghosts in physical bodies.

The real versions of them, the ones that had signed up, were dead too. Sure, the dubbed ‘ingame’ versions of them had inherited their bodies, but none of them remembered their families. Saihara, for instance, had two loving parents and a little sister, but all he knew was his fake uncle. 

Ryoma had learnt to stop answering his family's calls. It was a jerk move, trust him, he knew that. But all it ended up with was his forgotten mother crying and him frantically trying to calm a woman he didn’t know down.

_ But what a great series, right? Popular, important, needed. Everyone needs a new season of Danganronpa! _

Ryoma rolled his eyes and curled up his fists. He’d told himself he’d never submit to violence again, but sometimes the people here made him want to punch someone. 

_ Click, click, click. _

That was the soundcue of the door down the hall opening. He had to get into bed now.

Ryoma laid down in his bed and exhaled through his nose. The blanket tickled his nose and the bed was too squishy. Kirumi had supposedly fixed all of the other beds, but due to the ban against victims and killers meeting, she hadn’t had the chance to do so. 

The door shut down the hall and he heard another pattern of clicking. If he remembered correctly, that would be Saihara’s dorm being checked. 

_ “Saihara-kun? Are you in here?”  _

Ryoma heard no response. 

Another clicking sound, this time a flashlight. They probably didn’t see him.  _ “Saihara-kun, please wake up, nightly curfew check.” _

Silence. 

Footsteps.

Then the beeping of a walkie-talkie. 

_ “We have a code red. Saihara is currently missing from his dorm, it is ten-o’-three pm, and his whereabouts are unknown. Please turn on the searchlights and do an emergency check on all dorms.” _

  
_Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will hopefully be Irumatsu? I just wanted to do Tojoshi this chapter, honestly. It may end up being Saiouma due to the ending? I don't really have a plot outline, so I'm not sure, sorry about that.


End file.
